The Southern Force was a combined formation built around Euryalus, the five Cressy-class cruisers, light cruisers, two destroyer flotillas, and ten submarines. It was never intended to be an isolated "live bait" squadron. July war orders still governed the patrol in September, placing the force across routes near German bases while British troops moved to France. Early-war Admiralty micromanagement narrowed Rear Admiral Arthur Christian's discretion as heavy weather forced the destroyer flotillas apart and prevented the combined patrol from reforming. Christian could reposition his cruisers only within central instructions and then had to return Euryalus to refuel, leaving Captain J. E. Drummond in command of Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy. Their screen was absent because it could not operate in the same conditions. The force had been designed to patrol with escorts. The loss resulted from the interaction of command, weather, coal, troop protection, and an unfamiliar threat.
Notable Point · 1:17:16-1:21:12
Admiralty micromanagement on the Broad Fourteens
Central orders kept the cruisers covering troop movements after weather removed their destroyers, leaving the local commander to execute a risky patrol configuration he had not chosen.